The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1887-12-31

dispatch Of the 2lst from Rochester,
\. Y, says: Shortly before o'clock
this afternoon a terrific explosion oc-
Cured in front of the Poole -four mill
on Mill Street. at the foot of Factory
Street The shock was felt for long
distance. Only few seconds after the
hrst explosion another followed and an
other and another in rapid succession.
instantly flames burst from the Poole
4hlh ana the rear walls fell in The fire
Dutht with great fury and although
the worSpeu FASTENED TO get out, it is
feared Seine have perished in the flames
II "P.s only a few minutes before the
Washington mil, adjoining the burning
structure, was also on fire, and thence
the flames communicated TO other build
lngs. One Of the woFkmen jumped from
the third story OF the Poole mill and l.
seriously injured. Another escaped by
JumpincintO the race. The cause of the
explosion was that the sewers in the VI
ciaity were filed with naphtha To-day
$1,000 gallons of naphtha were pumped
from the vacuum oil works through
the pipe line in the bed of the
o.i canal. 1t was intended for the
municipal gas company, but one or more
breaks us The line allowed the naphiha
20 escape into the adjoining sewers
Nben the sewers became surcharged
S'Sh the gas 1t escaped into the mills
and exploded there or elsew where, and
The tire made It's way through the mains
~ the middle OF the street, throwing out
The manLole covers and tearing up the
roadway. In the vicinity Of the fire
and up Mill and State Streets, as
iisr ~ Market Street, three-quar-
ters 81 q mile, people were running in
every direction and frequent explosions
terrified them the more The explo-
SONS continued at such frequent inter
Eais iof the first half hour that the peo-
PIE we're deferred from getting any
where near tie fire. Women and chill
dren were running around CRYING and
screaming, thinking their brothers, hus-
baada or other relatives were in the
mdl.
Is not known whether all the mall
employees escaped. The walls of the
Jefferson mill fell in about O'Clock and
it Is feared there are several .aen buried
under them. The engineer of the Clin-
ton mill and two companions were
standing near the front of the mill when
the explosion ocCurreJ. They retained
sufficient presence of mind TO shut of
The steam and get out 0. the mill. There
we're SIX persons a. work In the Clinton
mIll, iOur OF whom escaped through
the water wheel. At the time Of writ
ing, II .JU T.. NJ, the lire Il under control.
The explosions ceased about half-past
O'Clock and no more danger Il appre-
hended from them. The explosions
covered Wide eNpanse of territory.
aanholes over sewers on Mill, Lewis,
Main, fremont. Smith, Jaw, Factory,
Race Brown and many other streets were
blown oil by the force of the explosions
and great deal OF the paving around
them was torn up. Windows were shat
tered IN many buildings in the vicinity
and the shock was felt all over a large
area. The tunnel through which the
burning naphtha flowed for several
hours is the largest sewer in the city and
Is the outlet for the sewers on the west
side. How badly damaged this is can
not be estimated. The fire must have
extended a distance of several hundred
jeet In the sewer.
The killed So far as known are Fred.
Wilson and L. 4. Webster. John Lee.
employed at the Peoples mill has not
peen accounted or and up To this hour
i IS thought that he IS dead in the tun-
mel
The aggregate damage is hard to esti-
mate. The following individual losses
are known: Washington mill and
contents. $1,000; insurance, $50
GOO; Jefferson mill and con-
tents, $4,000: insurance. S25, 5,OlO:
Clinton mill and contents, S75, 900; in
surance, $780, 900. At midnight 1t is be-
lteved that four persons are killed
These are Frederick Wilson, Edward A.
Webster, Abraham Rogers and John
Lee. The last named is missing and it
IS supposed was burned to death in the
Clinton mil. The injured viii number
at least twenty.
ROCHESTER,, \. Y, Dec. 22.-The lower
end OF Mill Street presented a desolate
spectacle this morning. The street was
torn up In all directions by the force of
the explosions of naphtha last
eyeTing. The windows of surround
ing buildings which escaped the
flames were shattered. A stone from
one of the falling buildings was
thrown 100 feet through second story
window of one of the factories and
shattered a 500 pound iron wheel. Great
clouds OF smoke and steam are still ris-
Ing from the ruins. Portions Of detached
wall are leaning at seemingly impossible
angles, and threatening every moment
to fall. Streams of water from every
available source are playing upon the
ruins, which are still red hot in places
1t Is not probable that the ruins will
be cool enough TO permit a search for
the bodies Of any who may have per
ished before tonight or possibly to-
morrow. Even then the search must
be attended with great caution on ac-
count of the unsupported walls still
standing. The general impression is
that there must be several bodies in
the ruins Fred Wilson and f. A. Web
ster are known TO have been killed
Abraham Rogers and John Lee are
missing. The injured number tw wsnty.
EOuES Nv POIITFCs